How I Fell in Love With Emma Swan
by Moonlit Bliss
Summary: The epic story of how Killian Jones fell in love with Emma Swan through heartache, adventure, triumph and loss. Together, they discover new lands, enemies, and friends as they attempt to get back to Storybrooke.
1. Chapter 1

**_Summary: _**The epic story of how Killian Jones fell in love with Emma Swan through heartache, adventure, triumph and loss. Together, they discover new lands, enemies, and friends as they attempt to get back to Storybrooke._  
_

_**Timeline: **_Follows the events leading up to and during the season two episode "Tallahassee".

**_A/N: _**This will be my first piece of writing that I've ever shown to the public, so I'm a bit nervous but also excited! I hope you all like this first chapter and the rest of the story. I am completely open to any criticism—in fact, I welcome it with open arms as I want to improve my writing as much as possible.

_**Disclaimer:**_ None of the characters or settings are mine in any way.

* * *

_The dwarves and the faeries had decorated that area of the woods with pure white streamers and lanterns that added a warm glow to the twilit area. The aisle is a path made of rose petals that leads to a white wooden altar that is also adorned with roses. The people mill around on either side of the aisle. The bridesmaids are missing; they're helping the bride get dressed and prepared for her big day. This is the first wedding in Storybrooke and a very big deal for the residents of the town, especially after the events that had occurred over the course of the past six months._

_The pitter-patter of bare feet cause the growingly impatient assembly to raise their heads excitedly, only to sigh when they realize it's just Snow White, who is one of the bridesmaids. She holds her heels in her hand and her cheeks are flushed from running._

_"So sorry about the delay, everybody!" Snow pants, fanning her face with her free hand. "We're just having a few difficulties with the dress. I'm sure it'll all be solved soon, and then we'll get on with the wedding!" The crowd grumbles, then falls silent at Snow's harsh look. "She'll be out in no less than twenty minutes, alright? So just…be patient!" And with that, Snow scurries back in the direction of the town._

_Killian stands by his lonesome, away from the main group. Most of the townspeople have gotten over loathing him, yet they still unknowingly shun him. He doesn't mind, though. He is used to being the unwelcome outsider by now, and besides, they are all there for the bride, not him. Killian had come prepared for their exclusion of him, so it doesn't bother him one bit. __The sight of Charming striding towards him, however, does._

_"Come to cheer up the loner, have you?" Killian flashes him a fake smile. "There's no need, mate."_

_"It's a big day for you, too," Charming reminds him, putting his hands on his hips in his signature pose. "But that's not why I'm here. I have a question that's been on my mind for a long time now."_

_"Well, then, get on with it." The pirate feigns a yawn._

_"I'm not in the mood for the sass today." Charming sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I know that you're deeply in love with her—the whole town knows it." He stops and looks around at the trees._

_"And the question is…?" Killian raises his eyebrows._

_"The question is: how? why? Don't take this personally, but I don't think anyone would have predicted it'd be _you_ she'd fall for. I mean…you know what I mean, right?"_

_"Are you sure you want to ask that, mate? It's a pretty long story, and I'm afraid I can't shorten it for you. It does get quite sappy at times." Killian turns away to hide the downcast, pensive look that is spreading across his face._

_"Try me."_

_"Very well, O Mighty Prince," Killian chuckles. "I shall tell you the story of how I fell in love with your daughter. Emma Swan. It all began with a beanstalk."_

* * *

_**SIX MONTHS BEFORE**_

Killian pressed his back into the trunk of the tree he hid behind, silently praying he wouldn't be seen. He found himself regretting his choice of getting closer to the camp; he'd thought he would overhear their plans of what they planned to do next, but all they did now was pack up their supplies and clear all evidence that they were ever even there. Their attempts were futile, of course, as Killian had no problem following them wherever they went.

Since his not-so-honorable climb back down from the beanstalk after Swan had chained him up at the top and Cora's abandonment of him, he had followed Snow White, Mulan, Aurora, and Swan as they fruitlessly searched for Cora. They held possession of the compass, yet needed the wardrobe ashes as well to get back to their land. Killian had many times thought about revealing his presence, but ruled against it every time. They wouldn't exactly be delighted by his being there, even though he knew he could help them. No, he had to wait for the right time to make himself known.

Peeking around the tree, he spotted Swan with the compass in her hand. She was examining it as if trying to figure out how it worked. The corners of his lips turned up slightly at the way her blonde hair reflected the sunlight in such an angelic way. She was very easy on the eyes, and her attitude was a hoot. So fascinating, and he couldn't help but compare her to his long dead love: where Milah was carefree, Emma was endlessly troubled; where Milah laughed constantly, Emma's smiles were a rare treasure—and as a pirate, he was a sucker for treasure.

Killian shook his head slightly. He needed to stay focused on his revenge, that was all that mattered. Avenge Milah, and only then could he rest in peace. Three hundred years had done nothing to lessen the weight on his shoulders that had been thrust upon him the day he watched his love die right in front of him. His jaw clenched as he recalled the way his helplessness had ripped through him as he watched Rumplestiltskin tighten his grip on Milah's heart and crush it to dust. The need for vengeance filled him yet again, fuelling a new wave of anger that refreshed his determination to find the Crocodile and end his reign of terror.

Swan suddenly whipped her head up and looked around frantically. Killian threw himself back against the trunk, inwardly cursing himself. He couldn't get caught, not now. Not yet.

"Did you hear that?" Swan questioned someone, most likely her mother.

"No, what is it?" Snow responded anxiously.

"A twig snapped or something." Her footsteps were soft on the forest floor as she walked around, searching for the source of the sound. A crunch of a leaf sounded from the opposite side of the camp, and Killian felt momentary relieved that it wasn't him she had heard.

"I heard it that time," whispered Snow. "Where's Mulan?"

"She and Aurora went looking for food, I think." She cursed when another sound came from the trees around them. "Where's the fighter when you need it?"

Throughout their conversation, Killian had been inching forward from his hiding spot. Their backs were facing him, so he'd gone unnoticed. He had no doubt whatever was making the noises was some kind of threat, which he saw as an opportunity to reveal himself. "Right here, lass." He held back from the gaping expressions on their facing as they whirled around to face him.

"What are you doing here?" Swan exclaimed, continuing before he could give her a snide response. "Where's Cora? She's here, isn't she?"

"No, I'm not with—" Killian began before he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Indeed, I am." Cora emerged from the direction the sounds had been coming from, bringing with her an air of fear and apprehension. "Now...hand over the compass."

"Never!" The blonde was heroic, but rather reckless in Killian's eyes. "Give _us_ the ashes!"

Cora let out a chilling laugh. "How amusing." With a flick of her fingers, the compass flew out of Emma's hand and landed in Cora's waiting hand. "Thank you. Now, I best be on my way." A billow of purple smoke gathered at her feet.

"No!" Killian shouted. He wouldn't let her get away again. Without thinking, he retrieved one of the knives that he hid in his belt and threw it at Cora. It hurdled towards her, spinning handle over blade, and impaled itself in her chest.

Swan gasped and Snow's hand flew to her cheek. The smoke disappeared, but Cora's face remained impassive as she casually removed the blade. She examined it, admiring the way the blood glistened.

"Nice try, boy," Cora giggled, eyes flashing. "You've made me irritated now. I don't wish death upon you, so..." She squeezed the hilt of the knife and flung it at them faster than humanly possible. But it wasn't aimed at Killian—it pierced Emma's stomach.

Her piercing scream of agony sliced through the air, overlaying Cora's cry of glee. Emma fell to the ground, her body curling up around the blade.

"You annoy me almost as much as the pirate," Cora told Emma. "What better punishment than being separated from your mother?"

"Stop!" Snow pleaded. "Please, for the love of—"

"And _you_," Cora snapped, "you are the one who caused my daughter so much pain. It's only fair that you feel the same way I did when I lost my Regina."

"You can't do this," Killian hissed. "You need the portal for yourself!"

"I have _this_." Cora lifted her hand, showing off the bean she held between her thumb and her forefinger. "The waters of Lake Nostos will be needed to restore the wardrobe ashes, but this bean is in proper working order. Lucky, isn't it? Might as well put it to good use."

She hurled the bean right in front of Emma's hunched up body. A swirling vortex opened up and illuminated the area with a harsh green light. Killian instinctively jumped forward to grab Emma's arm to keep her from falling through the portal, but the vortex grew until the ground disappeared beneath his feet. Still clinging to Swan's arm, he fell into the portal with her.

The last things he heard were Cora's laugh and Snow yelling her daughter's name.

* * *

Killian hit the ground with a _thump._ He groaned as pain from the impact shot through him. "That's going to leave a bruise," he muttered out loud as he got to his feet. He looked to his left when he heard a whimper. Swan lay sprawled on the sand, her blood-covered hands clutching the knife that was impaled in her gut.

"Hook..." she breathed and winced.

He didn't hesitate to hurry over and kneel down next to her. "That must hurt," he commented as he examined the would, careful not to move the knife.

"Like a bitch," she managed to get out, making Killian chuckle.

"Well then, let's see what I can do about that, shall we?" Killian had seen his share of stab wounds, and this one didn't look like it had done too much damage. His only worry was blood loss—if he took out the knife, she could lose enough blood that she could...

No, he wouldn't let that happen. But leaving the knife in was obviously causing her an immense amount of pain. If he were to remove it, he would need something to staunch the blood flow. An idea popped up in his mind and he tugged his coat from his shoulders.

"What..." Emma mumbled. "What're you doin'?"

"What the bloody hell does it look like I'm doing?" he muttered, carefully placing the article of clothing around the wound. "Brace yourself, lass, this is gonna hurt. On three, yeah?" She gave a slight nod, and Killian gripped the blade in his hand. "One..." He yanked the knife out and quickly pressed the leather against the wound before too much blood could leak out.

"Ow! Dammit, Hook, _ow_!" Emma yelled, clenching her eyes shut. "You little piece of—"

"Little?" A genuine smile spread across his face as he applied pressure to the wound. "You offend me greatly, Swan."

"Shut it."

"Ah, but it does feel better now, doesn't it?" he asked, chuckling when she didn't answer. It suddenly dawned on him that he had no idea where they were. "Hold this in place while I figure out where exactly we are..." He removed his hand from the coat after she clamped hers over it.

Killian stood and accessed his surroundings. They were on a paradisal white sand beach that sloped uninterrupted into a vast blue ocean that disappeared into the horizon. Above the beach was a dense, green jungle full of underbrush and vines. It appeared they were on some kind of island, but he couldn't work out how large it was due to a chain of small mountains far off in the jungle that stretched from one side of the isle to the other.

"Is this Neverland?" asked Emma, her blue eyes wide with curiosity. Killian shook his head. "Then...where are we?"

"I have no idea."


	2. Chapter 2

_"Well," remarks Charming, "you weren't kidding about it being long."_

_"Please," Killian scoffs. "I've barely even begun."_

_"So, what's this island you two were on?"_

_"I'm getting to that."_

* * *

**_SIX MONTHS BEFORE_**

"What do you mean, you don't know where we are?"

Killian sighed, feeling exasperated. Swan wasn't bad company, but at the moment she was being a real pain. "Sorry to break it to you, love, but I don't have the answer to everything. I've been in two worlds, and two worlds only. And since this is neither, I'm just as clueless as you at the moment when it comes to what to do next."

"Well..." Emma propped herself on her elbows as she tried to get to her feet. "Then I guess we'll have to start with exploring."

"Ah ah ah," chided Killian. He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed gently until she lay back down. "In case you haven't noticed, you just got stabbed. You aren't going anywhere."

Emma protested, but Killian didn't miss her occasional wince whenever she moved. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, it pained him to see her suffer. The way her green-blue eyes widened, the way her mouth opened slightly, the way a light flush rose in her cheeks—every bit of her reaction to pain added a weight to his shoulders. He felt responsible to take care of her and nurse her back to health, as he told himself it was the gentlemanly thing to do. And Killian was always a gentleman.

"What do you suppose we do then?" Emma questioned. "Just sit here, right in the open, on some kind of island that could pose a million different threats that we have no idea about?"

"You're awfully sassy for someone with a knife in her gut," Killian chuckled, yet he couldn't help but admire her determination.

"You're awfully bad at avoiding the question: what do we do now?"

"Just sit here, lass." Killian smiled at her irritated expression. "We really don't have anything else to do. I mean, if you weren't injured I could think of a few very enjoyable activities..."

"Seriously, Hook?" she exclaimed, clenching her hands into fists. He smirked at her. "Is it really _that_ hard for you to go a whole five minutes without any innuendos or suggestive behaviour? No wonder no one likes you, you can't even carry on a conversation!"

"I'll have you know that I have excellent social skills. I just choose to use them in different ways then most." Killian licked his lips and very obviously looked her up and down.

Emma rolled her eyes and banged her head against the ground. "The fact that I'm more annoyed by you than I'm worried about being stuck on some mysterious island begs to differ."

"Fine, love, what would you like to converse about?" Killian asked teasingly.

"Humor me."

"You mentioned that you were once in love," he recalled, "back on the beloved beanstalk. What's the story of that?"

She turned her head away from him. "I'm not talking about that."

"Broken heart?" He took her silence as a yes. "We've all been there. Well, for me it was a crushed heart, if you want to get specific." Over the centuries, Killian had discovered that humor, especially the dark kind, helped mask the pain that was ever-lingering since the Crocodile had smashed his life into a pile of dust that was lost to the wind.

Emma looked back at him and her brow raised questioningly. "Crushed heart? That sounds...familiar."

Killian tilted his head to the side as he assessed her reaction. "Who was it for you?"

"Regina." She rested her head on the ground, her eyes closed. "She's not called 'The Evil Queen' for nothing, that's for sure."

"I mean, who was taken from you?" he asked. "Who was it that you loved?"

"Oh, no!" Emma exclaimed and instinctively tried to sit up, then winced and lay back down. She was still pressing the leather coat against her wound. "No, no, no. I didn't love Graham. I could have, though."

For a moment, a brick in her emotional walls popped out long enough for Killian to see the pain she had been through. And in that moment, he realized just how fragile she was. Behind her armor, she was a delicate girl with a heart so broken that she felt the need to shut people out to protect herself from more pain. The realization of this brought confusion and curiosity to Killian—why were her walls so thick? He knew what it was like to have love wrenched out of your hands, and the reaction to it was unrelenting anger and need for revenge, not Swan's withdrawal into her mental fortress. What else had happened to her, he wondered. Who else had fuelled her abandonment issues and distrust in everyone around her? He had a feeling he wouldn't get the answers to these questions for a long time. It would take a giant's sledgehammer to break down her walls, and at the moment Killian only had a twig.

He changed the subject. "Remember when you tied me to the tree in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma raised her eyebrows in response. "You knew who I was. You've heard of my name before, yet you grew up in a land completely different from mine. How is it that you are familiar with me?"

"It's a long story," she sighed.

Killian looked pointedly at her wound. "I believe we have the time, love."

"Well," Emma began, "in my world, the people from the Enchanted Forest are like bedtime stories for us. Snow White—my mom—has her own story, Rumpelstiltskin has his, and Cinderella, and Jiminy Cricket. No one actually thinks they're real, though, which is why this is all so damn weird for me."

"And I have a popular story in your land?" He couldn't help but grin at the thought. "No surprise, really."

"Actually, it's not _your_ story," she said, seemingly glad to harm his ego. "You're just the villan."

"You're joking, right?" Killian asked incredulously. She shook her head. "Bloody hell. If anyone's the villan, it's the Crocodile!"

"Rumpelstiltskin isn't exactly in your story. The Crocodile is, though."

"They're the same bloody person!" he exclaimed, making Emma laugh. It was an actual laugh, not mocking or sarcastic or forced. That was the first time Killian heard her laugh, and it brought a long forgotten warm feeling to his chest. The sight of her beautiful, pearl white smile and the amusement in her eyes was enough to make him long for more of her. He fought the urge to reach out and touch her cheek as he knew she wouldn't like it on bit.

It took a few moments for the realization to hit him that she hadn't shown one sign of pain while she chuckled, yet the movement should have hurt. "How's the wound?" Killian questioned.

Emma's smile fell away as she understood the meaning of his words. "It's good," she said, confused. "It's really good." She started to lift the coat from her body.

"No, don't—" he began, then stopped abruptly when he saw that the smooth skin of her stomach was marked uninterrupted. Her shirt was covered in blood, but there was no wound. What should have taken months to heal had taken a short hour. Emma looked up at him in shock.

"What the hell is going on?" she muttered, poking at where the wound had been as if it were a hallucination. She then looked around as if trying again to figure out where they were. "This island..."

"It's not the island," Killian mused, hiding his shock with an impassive expression. "If it was, we would have noticed it earlier. It healed so suddenly, all at once. No sign of it left." He stroked his chin, his stubble scratching his callused fingers.

"Then what did it?"

"You should be asking _who_ did it, lass," he said. "We're obviously not the ones on this island."

Emma let her breath out through her nose. "It's about time we explored this place, huh?"

* * *

**_A/N:_** This chapter is slightly shorter than the first, but I promise the next one will be much longer. Our two star-crossed lovers will get plenty of social time throughout this fic, but there won't be another one for a while. I hoped you all liked this chapter. Remember, reviews and criticism are completely welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

_"You still haven't told me what this island was," Charming points out, crossing his arms. "Or who healed Emma. Can't you move this along a little faster?"_

_"Trust me," assures Killian, "every detail is important to the story." He doesn't mention how important the details are to him._

_Throughout the storytelling, the two men have sat down to rest their feet. Charming leans forward and says, "You know, Emma never told me about any of this. She just said that you all came back to Storybrooke as soon as you got the wardrobe ashes and the compass. Why do you think that is?"_

_"Perhaps she just wanted to move on from it. She's happy about where it got her, so the journey doesn't matter."_

_"When Snow and I wanted to be together, we were blocked by many obstacles in the beginning. But with every step we took around them, our love for each other grew."_

_"Well, Emma doesn't exactly see her life as a fairytale. Let me tell you why."_

* * *

**_SIX MONTHS BEFORE_**

Killian helped Emma to her feet, unconsciously keeping an eye on her to see if she let off any sign of pain. Her stab wound appeared to be completely healed, but he didn't trust whoever had healed it. It was magic, he was certain of that, but since he didn't know where they were he had no idea who inhabited the island. There could be a whole world of dangers out in the jungle, and they were not prepared to say the least.

Emma remained silent as they cautiously approached the tree line. The wall of trees stood threateningly like an army unwilling to let anyone in, or let anything out. Quite like the emotional barriers of his blonde companion, but now wasn't the time to think about that. He looked to his side to say something to her and realized she was no longer beside him. He turned around and saw that she had stopped walking and was looking up curiously at the chain of mountains. Killian noticed that the closest mountain was also the largest and had a funny shape to it.

"Swan?" Killian called to her, but she didn't pay any attention to him. He could practically hear her brain working as she stared intently at the misshaped mountain. "What is it?"

Emma's mouth opened, then closed, as if she was trying to decide on something. Her eyes lit up and she shook her head slightly in disbelief. "No way," she muttered so quietly that Killian strained to hear her. Without warning, she ran off in the direction that would keep her on the beach and still bring her closer to the mountain.

"Wait!" the pirate yelled. "Swan!" He took off after her. She was fast, he gave her that much, but he was faster. Yet every time her got close behind her the sand she kicked up threatened to get in his eyes and he had to back off. So he kept a safe distance behind her and prayed that she knew what she was doing. Even though they were on the beach, they were still in unfamiliar territory.

After several long minutes of running, Emma halted and put her hands on her knees, panting. Killian stopped beside her, his eyebrow raising involuntarily.

"What the bloody hell was that?" he questioned. "I'd rather that you'd run _towards_ me, not away, love."

"I thought I knew this place," she explained, breathing heavily. Killian smiled at the sight of her sweat-glistened forehead, her windblown hair, and the way her brown jacket was slipping off to reveal the skin of her shoulders.

He tore his gaze from her body to her face and asked, "Well, do you?"

"Yeah," she breathed, staring up at the mountain. "Have you ever heard of Skull Island?"

Killian followed her gaze and looked at the mountain. From this new perspective, it was no longer misshapen but instead formed the cruel shape of a skull. The nose and eye sockets were vast caves, and the teeth were sharp rocks that, even from this distance, looked precarious.

"Can't say I have," he said, chuckling, "but it does remind me of Skull Rock back in Neverland. Though this one has a much different feel to it. It's much bigger. And looks harder, too."

"This isn't the time to joke, Hook!" Emma exclaimed. "This place is seriously dangerous."

"Might I ask how you heard of it? For all we know, you could be mistaken."

"I'm not mistaken," she insisted. Killian silently admired her stubbornness. "This island—Skull Island—was in a movie called King Kong and it was full of dinosaurs and monsters and—"

"Movie?" He wrinkled his nose at the unfamiliar word. "King Kong? Dinosaurs? You've got a lovely mouth, Swan, and I'm sure it is _very_ talented, but gibberish isn't your strong suit."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'll explain later. For now, just know that Skull Island means danger and vicious creatures."

"The vicious creatures being movies and King Kongs?"

"No...just no." Emma shook her head, apparently giving up on explaining. Killian nearly laughed at her despair, but he then saw the real fear in her eyes and thought better of it. She was seriously concerned.

"Have we given up on exploring?" he asked sincerely.

"No, I don't think so. We'll just have to be more careful and stay alert. Keep your eyes and ears open."

"Aye aye, Captain Swan," Killian mocked, invoking another eye roll. "What? I always follow my Captain's orders."

"Alright then," she sighed, "let's go." They shared a look before starting forward into the menacing jungle.

* * *

"Shit!" Emma yelled. Killian saw that her foot had caught in a bramble bush.

"Smooth, Swan," he drawled. "You'd do better to keep quiet if this place is as dangerous as you say." She shot him a glare but remained silent as she wrenched her foot from the bush and trekked on.

They had been walking through the jungle for at least an hour and there still hadn't been any sign of living creatures besides the chirping of birds hidden in the canopy above their heads. Killian knew that she was sincere about knowing where they were, and even with the apparent lack of dangers he believed her. He had so far kept from questioning her about 'movies' and 'dinosaurs', but his curiosity was eating him up.

"So, what's a movie?" he asked her as he stepped over a tree root.

"Uh...it's kind of like a moving picture that tells a story," Emma explained.

"And how exactly is that a monster?" Killian inquired confusedly.

She shook her head an opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a loud snap and the sound of a tree crashing to the ground. They both froze, their ears open for any further sounds. A ferocious roar split the air and shook the ground. Killian swayed, fighting to find his balance, and Emma looked at him with wide eyes.

"Run!" Killian shouted and took off with Emma close behind him.

The ground flew beneath his feet, and the wind tore through his hair and slapped his face. The trees blended into a green and brown blur on either side of him. He heard Emma panting behind him and hoped whatever it was hadn't followed them. His luck fell out, however, as the creature's footsteps quaked the ground as it dashed after them.

Killian realized that Emma was falling behind and he called to her, "Faster, Swan!" He turned his head for a moment to see how far behind she was, and in that split second three things happened.

The first was that he saw the creature that was chasing after them. It was huge; about six times Killian's height and twenty times as long. Its thick, bulky head hung in front of its body since it leaned forward as it ran. Its gaping mouth was lined with large, sharp teeth and it held its small, three-fingered arms close to its body. Gray, bumpy scales made up its skin. It was surprisingly fast for its astonishing size, but he deduced that it could only endure this speed for a short amount of time. The act of dodging the undergrowth and the trees was slowing it down, so Killian figured that as long as they stayed ahead, the creature would eventually tire and give up on its chase.

The second was the sight of Emma in that moment. Her dilated eyes showed off the absolute fear she felt, a fear that he had never seen before in her, not even when they had faced the giant on top of the beanstalk. Then, she knew that she had a way to defeat the threat; but now, the only choice she had was to run. And she hated to run away, as Killian could tell, because all her life people had run out on her and she didn't believe running away from your problems would solve them. Killian couldn't agree less.

The third, and last, was that the jungle ran out in front of them and they ran out onto an open field that gently sloped down before ending abruptly in a cliff overlooking the sea. The open space allowed the creature chasing them to emit another burst of speed and it was soon close on their heels.

Killian slowed his running, and when he saw that the large reptile had caught up to him he worriedly yelled, "Emma!" The creature's open jaws were mere feet away from her. Terror ripped through him, fuelling him to stop and turn to run towards her. He was moving through jello, the grass seemed to wrap around his feet and tug him back.

He was twenty, eighteen, fifteen feet away from Emma, but he was still too far. The creature's jaws stretched even wider as it closed in on its meal. Kilian made one final, desperate lunge forward and crashed headfirst into her, knocking her to the ground at the same time that the creature bit downward. Its teeth clamped on the air above them, missing their heads by a hair's breadth.

The creature opened its mouth again, preparing to lunge again. Killian's arms automatically wrapped around Emma and pulled her close to him in a protective position. Even though he knew it wouldn't help, he just wanted to be close to her in their last moments.

A similar roar to the one before filled the air, but it was a few octaves higher and came from further away. The monster in front of them froze, then slowly shut its jaws and lifted its head as if to pinpoint the source of the noise. Killian held his breath in apprehension, his arms tightening around Emma. The creature's curiosity overcame its appetite and it trotted off parallel to the tree line.

The two lay on the ground for a while, she still in his arms, as they caught their breath and came to grips with what events had just occurred.

"What the hell just happened?" Emma breathed. She then realized how little space was between them and gasped, trying to wriggle free of his hold.

"Oh, don't do that, love," Killian complained, refusing to let her go. "I'm just _so _comfortable, aren't you?"

"Not really," she practically growled and finally wrenched herself free. She stood quickly and rubbed her temples, her chest heaving. "Your ability to flirt right after being on the brink of death astounds me, Hook."

"Give me the chance," he smirked, "and I'll astound you in many more ways. I cross my heart." He got to his feet, then groaned when his head began to throb.

"Thanks for banging your skull into mine, by the way," said Emma sarcastically.

"Especially when we could be banging other things..."

"Hook!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Could you stop with the innuendos for one minute? We almost _died!_"

"I know that," Killian said seriously. "Don't think I'm not grateful that we're not dead. Dying wouldn't exactly be convenient for me as you know I have some unfinished business."

"Right, you have to enact your revenge and all that," Emma answered condescendingly. "You know, if you let yourself have other goals in life—goals that actually matter—you might actually have people who care about you. I sure don't." She stormed off back towards the jungle.

"No, Swan!" he called. "Wait!"

She whirled around and snapped, "What?"

"I know you're angry with me, but going off alone now that we know what's out there isn't the most reasonable thing to do right now. It's best if we stick together, yeah?"

Emma hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

Before Killian could give a snide response, an arrow flew past his head and stuck into the ground in fron of him. They both turned in the direction the arrow had come from and saw about a dozen people running towards them at an alarming pace.

Killian began to run in the other direction, as did Emma, but saw that another group of the strangers stood a couple hundred feet away, blocking any escape. They were surrounded.

"Blood hell," he moaned.

* * *

_**A/N: **_Yeesh, sorry this took so long! This week has been much busier than I thought it would be. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and even reviewed it! It really means a lot to me.

For those who haven't seen King Kong, Skull Island is a fictional island inhabited by natives and dinosaurs and other creatures. I got the description of the creature (Vastatosaurus Rex) in this chapter from here (remove the spaces): kingkong . wikia wiki / Vastatosaurus_Rex  
More on the island will be revealed in the next chapter!

Anyways, how was this chapter? Good, bad, boring?


	4. Chapter 4

_"Wait, wait, wait," Charming interrupts. "Skull Island? As in _the_ Skull Island? That place isn't even real!"_

_"Then I guess we're all not real then," responds Killian sarcastically, "just because we're in books, right?" He grinned. "It's real. I should know."_

_"Fine." Charming rolled his eyes. "Carry on."_

_"You're not enjoying the story?" the pirate asks, raising his brows. "You're the one who wished to hear it..."_

_"I want to hear it, that doesn't mean I'm going to like it. Surrounded by angry natives on a mysterious island right after almost being eaten by a dinosaur? It's not exactly what a father wants his daughter to have gone through."_

_"Suck it up, mate. We've got a long way to go."_

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_**SIX MONTHS**** BEFORE**_

"This is great, Hook. Just great."

"It's not my fault we got captured by a bunch of bloody lunatics who like to draw on themselves! And if it wasn't for me, you'd be dead right now. Twice."

"Right now, it looks like a good idea to make it three times."

Killian grinned at her despite their situation. His wrists were raw from rubbing against the ropes that tied them together and his legs were beginning to ache from hiking for so long. He was used to the deck of his ship and the soft forest floor of the Enchanted Forest, not the unforgiving terrain of this island. Skull Island, Emma had called it.

One of their kidnappers hushed him by gagging him with a dirty piece of cloth before he could answer. Killian shot a glare at him, but the stranger ignored it and ran to his companions to talk to them quietly in an unfamiliar language.

The men all had braided hair and their skin was a shade of brown Killian had never seen before. Their eyes were black like obsidian; the cold, hard eyes of people who have seen many hardships and corpses. They wore necklaces made of fresh bones, some human and some not. What little clothing they wore was thin and dirty. Their unbelievable state of unkempt would have been pitiful if it weren't for the expressions on their faces: set jaws, clenched teeth, furrowed brows. Unforgiving. The kind of faces that had experienced a million horrors, and learned to withstand them all.

Despite the position he and Emma were in, Killian couldn't help but admire them. They moved through the jungle with the agility of a cheetah and the ferocity of a tiger. Their feet made little to no sound on the hard ground in spite of the abundance of twigs and leaves. The color of their skin and the paint that was cleverly distributed on their bodies allowed them to blend into the trees so that if Killian looked away from them, even for a moment, it was nearly impossible to relocate them. He and Emma had trouble keeping up with their swift pace even with the spears that were pressed into their backs, urging them forward.

The sky above them faded to a dark blue, then black. There were no stars and the moon was hidden behind a bundle of clouds, casting an eerie blanket of darkness over the island.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emma slightly shiver beside him. The air was hot and humid. Killian frowned at this act of involuntary vulnerability; from what he had seen of her so far he had deducted that she used her courage and her mental walls to block any weaknesses or doubt from others. Whether she did so purposely or not, it was, for the most part, effective, yet there was one moment that he had seen through it. It had been on the beanstalk, when he'd seen the look of loneliness that was in the eyes of every child that had been abandoned—the look that Killian often saw when he glanced at the mirror.

The ropes around his hands helped him fight the urge to grab hers, stare into her eyes, and assure her that he understood her unease, for he had felt it too when he had experienced his first night on a horrific island. But that was a different island and it wasn't wise to think of that now. That land...that land had been much, much worse.

After hours of stumbling through the jungle, they broke through the tree line and found themselves standing at the foot of one of the mountains. It was not the one that was shaped like a skull, it was one of smaller ones, but it still towered high above their heads. Part of the mountain dented inward, creating a deep, vertical valley. A tall, log fence stretched from one end of the dent to the other, providing one of the three walls of what looked like the natives' camp, the other walls being the hard rock of the mountain. Spikes on the wooden fence faced outward to keep out the unwelcome creatures of the island.

Killian shared a look with Emma, and he saw nothing but furious determination in her eyes. He felt impressed by her incessant bravery, a trait that not many held so easily. Killian himself had gained his audacity from his experience as a captain of a pirate ship, but from what he could tell, his time with Emma in the Enchanted Forest had been the first time of a true need for survival for her. The fact that her courage had kicked in so swiftly without experience implied that she was either extraordinary or she had faced an extreme hardship sometime in her life. Killian knew it was both.

One of their kidnappers suddenly jumped up on a boulder that stuck out from the ground and let out an animal-like sound that echoed off the mountain and made Killian wince. A gate in the wall shuddered and was pushed open from the inside.

Killian felt a spear prod his back and he trudged forward, feeling wary of his unfamiliar surroundings. The natives hadn't harmed them—yet—but they appeared aggressive and dominating. It hadn't slipped his mind that no creature had attacked them on their way to the camp; in fact, every time Killian had heard a growl or a twig snap, he soon after heard the footsteps of something running away, as if the animals knew the natives and knew what they were capable of.

That made Killian wonder what they were capable of.

The group passed the wood walls and entered the camp. About a dozen tents were scattered over the rough ground in between the walls, and where the tents weren't there were campfires and groups of the natives.

Where there had previously been chatter, there was now just the footsteps of the natives in the camp shuffling away from the newcomers. They glared at Killian and Emma as if they had committed a heinous crime, and some even hissed at them.

Killian locked eyes with a little boy across the camp whose mother was shielding him behind her bare legs. The boy's mouth opened slightly and he appeared to whisper something, but even in the silence Killian couldn't make it out. The boy's mother shushed him and ushered him into a nearby tent.

Their kidnappers dispersed among the other natives as a select few gathered and talked in hushed voices. Killian assumed that they were the leaders of these strange people. As soon as they were gone, Emma turned to him.

"We need to get out of here," she whispered, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, love," Killian replied sarcastically.

"Be quiet!" Emma hissed.

"It's not like they can understand us," he pointed out. She looked down and sighed, not answering. "What's you plan?" he asked.

"I'm trying to think," she snapped, looking around as she analyzed her situation while he analyzed her. She tended to bite her lip when she was deep in concentration, something that amused Killian. Her long eyelashes jumped about as she glanced from the ground to the sky to the camp and, finally, back to him. "Here's the thing," Emma said." The only way out is the gate in that wall over there, right? But it looks so heavy that they must need half a dozen people to push it open. There's no way the two of us are gonna be able to do that."

"There must be another way out," Killian insisted.

"What, do you want to climb the mountain or something?" She brought her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, slowly letting her breath out.

Another voice sounded from one of the tents behind them. "That's not such a good idea." Emma and Killian whipped around to see a man emerge from the tent. He obviously wasn't one of the natives; his skin was pale, his hair was trimmed and his beard was completely shaved. His eyes were not guarded like the natives', they were a shade of gray that was sharp like the steel of a knife. The corners of his thin mouth turned up, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" Emma snapped, immediately jumping to the point.

The stranger chuckled slightly and scratched his cleanly shaven cheek. "I am someone who thinks that you are asking the entirely wrong questions." He strolled towards where Emma and Killian stood with their hands still tied behind their backs.

"Yeah?" The blonde put her hands on her hips. "Well, what _should_ I be asking?"

The man stalked closer, his stride long and dangerous. He couldn't be more different from the natives. Where their clothes were ratty and practically nonexistent, his were crisp and had not even a speck of dirt on them. The natives' gait was similar to a panther's; quick and quiet, heard by none. The man's was purposely louder, as if he wanted to be heard. He wished his presence to be known, his eyes flashed with the need to have legions tremble in fear when his footsteps were heard. And he would always be heard.

"You should be asking _where_ you are." The man's voice boomed like a deafening strike on a drum. "And why you are here."

"We know where we are," Killian informed him coldly before Emma could say anything. "And we're here because we fell through a portal."

The man's brows lifted slightly. "Portal?"

Emma's eyes glinted. "We've told you enough," she snarled. "Your turn."

"You're not exactly in a good place to negotiate," he chuckled. "Now, tell me your story. Your real story, none of this 'portal' bullshit. I'll know if you're lying."

"And what happens if we lie?" Emma challenged. Killian let his breath out slightly at her reckless bravery. She was gonna get them killed someday.

"If you lie..." The corners of the man's mouth turned up slightly and gestured to the crowd of natives around them, most of whom were holding spears or bows. "Well, the answer to that is quite obvious." Emma swallowed, and she remained silent.

Killian looked around, trying to disguise his panic. If he didn't think of a decent story in the next few seconds, they were going to be up to their ears on trouble...not to mention covered on arrows.

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** _A/N:_ ** First off, let me say that I am so incredibly sorry for taking forever to post this chapter. I got a _major_ writer's block, and I only just now finished this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless, and I promise I won't take two weeks to update it again.


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